


SoulTale

by Kimber_Prime



Series: Soultale [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Loss, Lost Soul, Sadness, remembering
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-22
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-06-09 23:55:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6929545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kimber_Prime/pseuds/Kimber_Prime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frisk has stumbled into the Underground where she meets a lost soul. Will she be able to help them find peace?</p><p> </p><p>Notes:<br/>- There are no save points in SoulTale.<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fallen

“Frisk?” a voice asked.

Rubbing her eyes Frisk looked at the source of the noise which originated from the front seat of the car.

“Did you fall asleep honey?” the same voice asked coming from the woman in the passenger seat.

Nodding sleepily she looked out the window. They were on holiday and had been driving for most of the day. She hoped they would get where they were going soon.

“What is this idiot doing...” a male voice suddenly spoke from the driver’s seat.

“LOOK OUT!” the woman shouted and the car started to skid. They started to roll and went over a bank, the seatbelt tugging on Frisk’s skin. 

A voice was calling out to her, a different male voice she didn’t recognise but she was too scared to focus on it and couldn’t understand what they were saying.

She saw the ground rushing up to meet them a second before it hit.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bolting upright Frisk yelped out in pain. Her whole body hurt but she was alive.

Looking around she saw that she was in some sort of cavern lying on a bed of flowers, and not trapped in a car wreck at the bottom of a hill. It’d been a dream, one of a memory long in the past.

She recalled how she got here, tripping over a root while climbing the mountain in the dark. She should have stopped and waited for dawn...

Carefully testing her limbs she reassured herself that nothing was broken, although she was very sore. She’d been lucky that the flowers had cushioned her fall.

Attempting to get up she felt her legs wobbling beneath her, and fell down again shortly after gaining her footing. She jarred her legs in the process causing her to gasp in pain again.

She suddenly heard a noise which startled her; a voice was talking. Whoever it was sounded sad and worried.

“...THEY’RE HURT, OH NO... LET THEM BE OK PLEASE...” they said, and kept repeating similar phrases over and over.

Looking around Frisk tried to identify where the noise was coming from, but she could not see anyone in the gloom surrounding her. Listening carefully she could hear the voice originating slightly to her right.

Glancing in that direction she didn’t see anything at first, but as her eyes adjusted to the dimmed light she could make out a faint outline.

They were tall, and to Frisk’s surprise, also transparent as she realised she could see the cave wall in the distance through them. No wonder she hadn’t been able to see them Frisk thought to herself.

“Hello?” Frisk called out gently towards the figure. “Who are you?”

The figure seemed to completely freeze for a second.

“Y-YOU CAN HEAR ME?” They asked in a quiet voice.

“Yeah?” Frisk responded, not quite sure why the figure would be surprised about this. “I think I can see you too but you’re kinda in the shadows. Can you come closer so I can see you in the light?”

“O-OF COURSE HUMAN!” They responded and walked closer.

Once they got to the edge of the flowerbed they stopped. Standing in the light from the opening high above her, Frisk finally got a good look at the figure.

They were a tall skeleton wearing what looked like a cape as well as large reddish-orange gloves and boots. Standing in the sunlight Frisk could also clearly see that they were completely transparent, almost like a stained glass window. His expression was a mixture of surprise, sadness, and worry.

“My name’s Frisk, nice to meet you.” Frisk said to the skeleton while giving them a friendly smile.

“GREETINGS FRISK! MY NAME IS PAPYRUS AND YOU ARE THE FIRST PERSON I’VE BEEN ABLE TO TALK TO IN A LONG TIME..."


	2. History

"What do you mean by that Papyrus? Are you the only one down here"? Frisk asked.

"OH, NO NO THERE ARE LOADS OF OTHER MONSTERS DOWN HERE IN THE UNDERGROUND" Papyrus replied while shaking his head. He hestitated before continuing. "IT'S JUST THAT, FOR SOME REASON NOONE SEEMS TO BE ABLE TO SEE OR HEAR ME ANYMORE..."

Frisk could see the sadness in Papyrus's eyes, and a tear rolled down his skull. He was wiping his sockets with his gloves.

Gingerly Frisk stood up. Careful not to hurt herself further she wrapped her arms around him. She couldn't feel him, and just put her arms where she would if she had been able to, but from Papyrus's reaction it was clear that he could feel her.

They stayed quiet for a short while, Papyrus gently sobbing. He did not want to end this embrace and Frisk didn't force him too despite it feeling very strange to hug nothing. She just stayed still till he finally spoke up again.

"T-THANKS FRISK" he said in a slightly shaky voice.

"You're very welcome Papyrus" Frisk replied while letting her arms drop back to her sides. "If you're up for it, would you sit down with me and tell me about this place? You said it was called the Underground?"

"OH YES OF COURSE! YOU MUST BE SO CONFUSED!" He exclaimed, seemingly cheering up a bit. 

They sat down on the flower bed together and Frisk started eating one of her last sandwiches while Papyrus told her about the Underground.

Papyrus told her about the war of the races and how monsters had been trapped Underground by a magic barrier. King Asgore and Queen Toriel ruled over monsters and managed to maintain peace amongst monsters for many years, even when humans fell down into the Underground. 

The first human to fall had been a child named Chara. The King and Queen's son Asriel had found the child injured and alone, in the very cavern Frisk and Papyrus were sitting in, and took them back to the castle. They had been welcomed into the Royal family with open arms and still lived with them now, a sibling to Asriel.

Six other humans had fallen down since then, but all had been victim to tragic accidents due to being unaware of the dangers in the Underground during their journey through it. Their souls had been preserved, and on the day a 7th human died monsters would be able to break the barrier and be free to live on the world above again.

"WE DON'T KILL HUMANS THOUGH, DON'T WORRY!" he suddenly exclaimed. "IT WAS VERY UNFORTUNATE WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OTHER ONES, BUT WE JUST LET HUMANS LIVE OUT THEIR LIVES."

Frisk nodded while taking a sip from her water, and patiently waited for him to continue.

He told her about Undyne next, the brave and strong Head of the Royal Guard. She was in charge of keeping everyone safe, and had been Papyrus's mentor and best friend for a long time.

Papyrus suddenly stopped talking, and Frisk could see the sad expression on his face while he was staring out into the cavern.

"You miss her, don't you Papyrus?" she asked gently.

"Y-YES. I MISS HER TERRIBLY AND SHE TOOK MY 'DEATH' VERY HARD..." he replied. "SHE'S STARTED TO MOVE ON SINCE THEN THOUGH AND IS SLOWLY GETTING BETTER, BUT SHE'S STILL SAD A LOT OF THE TIME..."

Tears started flowing down his skull and he was sobbing again. Frisk quickly shuffled over to him and put her arms around his form again. "It's alright to miss people Papyrus, I miss people too". 

A tear also started to form in the corner of Frisk's eye but she quickly wiped it away.

"I-I MISS HER, BUT I MISS MY FAMILY EVEN M-MORE" he said eventually and Frisk sat back again. "MY FATHER DISSAPEARED NOT LONG AFTER ME, AND MY BROTHER IS TAKING IT VERY HARD..."

"I WATCHED MY FAMILY SUFFER, HELPLESS TO INTERVENE, AND NOT LONG AFTER THERE WAS AN ACCIDENT WHERE MY BROTHER WORKED AS THE ROYAL SCIENTIST. MY FATHER, GASTER, TRIED TO HELP HIM FIX IT. I DOUBT HE KNEW MUCH ABOUT IT SINCE HE WAS A HEALER AND NOT A SCIENTIST, BUT HE TRIED ANYWAY."

Papyrus paused for a second before continuing.

"THERE WAS A VERY BRIGHT LIGHT AND SUDDENLY HE WAS JUST GONE... PEOPLE THINK HE FELL INTO THE CORE BUT THAT WAS NEVER CONFIRMED... I-I MISS HIM AND I MISS BEING ABLE TO TALK TO MY BROTHER!"

Frisk waited patiently for Papyrus to compose himself before she spoke again. "What's your brother's name?"

"S-SANS. HE USED TO ALWAYS BE REALLY LAZY AND MAKE PUNS, BUT NOW HE'S REALLY SERIOUS ABOUT EVERYTHING. I HAVEN'T SEEM HIM SMILE IN A LONG TIME..." 

"Hey it's alright." She gently cooed. "How about I promise you something Papyrus? Would it cheer you up if Sans was happy again? Because I promise I will do everything I can to try make that happen. Everyone deserves to be happy."

"Y-YOU'D DO THAT? T-THANK YOU HUMAN, I MEAN FRISK!" Papyrus said between sobs, although the promise Frisk made had cheered him up a bit.

Now she had to be sure to keep that promise.


	3. Escape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters will be a bit slower to come out after this one unfortunately. I didn't need to design a lot of characters for this AU in the ruins but there are several to come over the next chapters, and I can't upload them until I've figured out their descriptions. Sorry about that.

Papyrus seemed to be in a much better mood now that he had someone to talk to. He sat on the flowers with Frisk, rambling on about loads of random things that he hadn't been able to share with anymore for so long.

Frisk just sat quietly, only interrupting to ask an occasional question. She couldn't imagine what it would have been like for Papyrus.

Eventually she did have to get moving though. She was almost out of food and completely out of water too. 

After Papyrus had finished telling her a story about waiting in front of Undyne's front door for a whole night to try join the Royal Guard Frisk gently interrupted him.

"Thanks for sharing all your stories Papyrus, but we do have to get going soon. I don't have any more water."

"OH I'M SORRY FRISK!" he exclaimed. "I'VE BEEN RAMBLING ON FOR QUITE A WHILE HAVEN'T I? CAN YOU STAND?"

"I think so". Frisk gently got to her feet, and although she was still sore and slightly unsteady she didn't feel like she was going to fall over again. "Yup I'm all good".

"ALRIGHT THEN FRISK, FOLLOW ME! I KNOW HOW TO LEAVE THE RUINS!" he said as he got to his feet and gestured into the gloom.

Together they set off. Papyrus had to focus quite hard on not moving at his normal speed since he'd easily outpace the smaller Frisk. He also wasn't the easiest thing to spot in the darkness so on occasion Frisk had to call out to him to make sure she was still going in the right direction.

"Hey Papyrus?" she called out.

"YES FRISK?" he asked looking back at her.

"Why were you in the ruins?"

"I USED TO COME HERE WITH MY BROTHER AND STARE UP AT THE HOLE IN THE CAVERN. SOMETIMES YOU COULD SEE SOME STARS THROUGH IT!"

Frisk smiled at him and kept walking but her smile faded as he turned away from her. The things humans take for granted on the surface are so precious to those who live down here. What was the last time that people simply went outside to look at the stars?

A light from up ahead caught Frisk's attention and she stopped her pondering. It was coming from an archway leading into some old buildings. Papyrus and Frisk stepped inside and started walking down a corridoor. 

Everything was worn and faded, but it looked like the room was very colourful at some point with faded paint on some of the stones. Part of the corridoor up ahead had also collapsed, forcing them to climb over it.

They soon reached an open room with a large dead tree right in the center of it. It was a spectacular sight seeing such a huge tree in a small space.

"WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET YOU SOME WATER IN HERE!" Papyrus suddenly exclaimed from up ahead, slightly starting Frisk.

Looking ahead she could see the entrance to a building, or at least she assumed it was due to how the corridoor narrowed and had stairs leading up to it. Walking over to Papyrus she giggled slightly at the crunchy leaves beneath her feet.

Hearing her laughter Papyrus smiled down at her from the top of the stairs and patiently waited for her to catch up. They entered the building together.

In front of her there was a door hanging losely off its hinges as well as some weird stones on the floor.

"THIS USED TO BE A PUZZLE." Papyrus explained. "YOU'D HAVE TO PRESS THOSE STONES IN A CERTAIN SEQUENCE FOR THE DOOR TO OPEN. IT'S BEEN BROKEN FOR A LONG TIME THOUGH".

"I guess it's a good thing too, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to get through here." She thought for a second. "You can't walk through walls can you?"

"OH, I-I HAVEN'T ACTUALLY TRIED".

"You don't have to try if you don't want to" Frisk said with a slight giggle.

Climbing over the broken door they entered an abandoned house. There was a collapsed corridoor to their right, another room to their left, and a stair straight ahead. Papyrus went left without any hesitation and Frisk quickly followed.

It appeared to once have been a living room with a fireplace against one wall and the remains of a wooden table against another. Just like the previous corridoors everything was worn and the once bright colours faded to almost grey.

Papyrus had dissapeared through yet another door and called out for Frisk to follow them. Walking over she found herself in a kitchen. Everything was broken but Papyrus was gesturing to an old fridge.

"CHECK IN HERE! I'M ALMOST CERTAIN THERE IS WATER IN HERE!"

Opening the fridge Frisk was greeted by a foul odor of spoiled food which caused her to gag. There didn't appear to be any power down here to keep the fridge on and everything had spoiled long ago. She did find some bottled water in the door opening though which she gratefully took.

"NYEH HEH HEH! THE GREAT PAPYRUS WAS RIGHT!" He exclaimed. Frisk giggled and decided to search the rest of the kitchen which rewarded her with some packets of chips in one of the cupboards.

Putting everything away in her bag Papyrus took the lead once again, back through the living area and down the stairs.

"Who used to live here Papyrus?" Frisk asked while they were walking down the long corridoor. "It seems like it was once a lovely home".

"OUR KING AND QUEEN USED TO LIVE HERE BEFORE THEIR CASTLE WAS BUILT! THEIR SON ASRIEL REALLY LOVED THE GOLDEN FLOWERS."

"It is a lovely spot..." Frisk quickly replied. The flower beds reminded her of the garden they'd had back home. She pushed the thought from her mind and kept walking.

Their path was soon blocked and Papyrus was looking confused. A giant door lay flat on the ground, it's hinges having rusted through ages ago, yet the exit before them was blocked off by a wall of snow.

"THIS WASN'T HERE WHEN I ENTERED..."

Walking over Frisk stuck her hand into the snow, breathing a sigh of relief when it went straight in.

"Don't worry Papyrus, it's soft snow. I can just dig it away". 

Using her hands she started shoveling the snow away, grateful that her gloves were giving her some protection from the cold. Papyrus was watching from the side, annoyed that he couldn't help.

Frisk took a break after digging for a while to take a drink. The water was slightly musty tasting, but it quenched her thirst so she didn't complain. Papyrus smiled as he watched on; at least he'd been able to help in some way.

Another 10 minutes later she broke through the snow pile. Beyond there was a beautiful snowy landscape with giant trees to either side of the path. The sight was so beautiful that she couldn't help but marvel at it for a few seconds.

"FRISK?" Papyrus suddenly interrupted.

"Sorry Papyrus, I was just looking at the landscape. It shouldn't take long to make the hole large enough to get through."

About five minutes later both Papyrus and Frisk were through the hole and standing in the snow. 

They smiled at each other when suddenly a voice came from up ahead, and it was getting closer.


	4. Snowdin

"There's no way you're gonna catch me, might as well give up!" a voice shouted.

"No way, I'm going to get you!" another one replied.

Frisk looked over at Papyrus. "Any idea who they could be? Sounds like children".

"YES I DO RECOGNISE THOSE VOICES, AND THERE IS NO NEED TO WORRY. YOU'LL SEE THEM SOON".

Sure enough, not even ten seconds later two children came running from up ahead. They didn't seem to notice Frisk as they kept running closer and closer, assumingly due to her outfit blending in reasonably well with the snowy landscape. When they were only a few metres away the child who was chasing, a small bunny, finally noticed her and stopped. However the front child, an orange dinosaur like creature with some feathers but no arms, kept running. They were looking behind them rather than where they were running and didn't see Frisk till they collided.

The impact made both Frisk and the child fall to the ground, slightly hurting Frisk's bruised body and confusing the other. The bunny decided to run back towards town while the other child rolled over onto his back.

"W-wait what?" they said while looking over towards Frisk. 

"Are you alright?" Frisk asked. "Here let me help you up".

"No thanks, I can manage it" they replied while using their head to prop themself back upright. Frisk stood up herself, brushing the snow off her clothing as she did so.

"Uhm I hate to ask, but could you please brush the snow off my clothes too? Kinda hard with no arms".

"Of course." Bending down next to the child she brushed the snow of his clothes. He was wearing a purple shirt with no arm holes which had two symbols on it; a heart like shape with some white decorations on the front, and a pair of wings on the back.

"Yo, you're a human right?" The child asked when Frisk was done. She nodded in response. "Man, that's like so cool! There's only one other human down here at the moment so not many people see them".

"Haha I can imagine" she replied with a friendly laugh. "My name's Frisk, what's yours?"

"I'm Monster Kid, but everyone just says Kid for short".

"Well Kid, it is very nice to meet you. Sorry for scaring your friend by the way" she said while looking back the way the bunny had dissapeared.

"Na, that's no biggy. We were playing tag so you saved me from being it" they replied with a huge grin. "They're not actually supposed to be out this far so they probably wanted to head home soon anyway. Speaking of which, I should probably head back too."

"Would you mind if I walked with you Kid? I'd hate to get lost out here."

"Yo, of course you can! Right this way!" Kid replied, almost bursting from excitement, and took off back the way he'd come.

Frisk didn't really need Monster Kid to guide her since Papyrus was with her, but it would seem a bit strange if she suddenly knew her was around everywhere. She gave Papyrus a quick smile before setting off after Kid. He hadn't asked her to tell anyone about him, so she wasn't going to. She did want to ask him if she should tell anyone, but she'd do that when they were alone at some point.

They walked through the snow together, Kid asking her a bunch of questions about humans as well as telling her lots of stories about things he'd done.

"STRANGE..." Papyrus suddenly mumbled from beside Frisk. She gave him a questioning look. "USUALLY KID NEVER TALKED ABOUT ANYTHING BUT UNDYNE, BUT HE HASN'T EVEN MENTIONED HER YET..."

This confused Frisk and she wanted to ask Kid about it but she couldn't. She was a stranger here and shouldn't know about anything yet. Walking around like she suddenly knew everything would alert others that something was wrong. Perhaps later when she'd been in the Underground for a longer time and had actually met Undyne she could go back and ask Kid about it.

"Hey Kid?" Frisk asked. "What's that symbol on your shirt?"

"Oh, that's the Delta Rune man; the symbol of the Royal family. Queen Toriel gave me this once so I always wear it now!" Monster Kid seemed very proud of his outfit and Frisk gave him a huge smile.

Together they walked for around another ten minutes before they came across the puzzles. Looking around Frisk could see the pressure plates hidden in the snow, although she wasn't exactly sure what they were for.

"I MADE THIS PUZZLE A LONG TIME AGO." Papyrus suddenly spoke up from behind her in a slightly sad voice. "IT'S DEACTIVATED NOW JUST LIKE THE OTHER PUZZLES IN THE UNDERGROUND..."

Frisk gave him a sympathetic smile as well as brushing her hand against his arm as she kept walking. Papyrus gave her a shy smile in return.

Snowdin came into a view not long after, a huge sign welcoming any potential visitors. It didn't appear to be a big town, but several buildings lined the main street with another few further to the side. Overall, it looked like a very nice place to live to Frisk.

"Yo, I gotta go." Kid said from just ahead of Frisk. "But uh... come visit again some time ok?"

"I will, it was nice meeting you." Frisk replied.

"Well see you later" Kid said as he ran off into the town.

Frisk started walking again, going past a shop before and an Inn called Snowed Inn. The pun made her giggle slightly.

Quite a few monsters were walking around the town but most didn't pay much attention to her, and those that did just gave her a smile as she walked past.

She started noticing how tired she was. Digging her way out of the ruins and walking through the snow had exhausted her and she was yawning repeatedly.

Going further into town she went past a library which had a spelling error on the sign, and soon after saw a pub of sorts. The name Grillby's was written above the door.

"SANS USED TO ALWAYS COME HERE..." Papyrus said with sadness in his voice. Looking around Frisk could see he was on the verge of tears.

"It's alright Papyrus" she said quietly so that no-one else could hear. "We'll make things better remember?"

Papyrus sniffed but nodded. They walked further side by side until they reached the next house. 

It was quite large with two stories, and completely made out of wood. A wilted wreath hung on the door and christmas lights were wrapped around a pole near the door. Despite appearing to have been abandoned for quite a while, the exterior was in excellent shape.

"T...THIS WAS OUR HOUSE..." Papyrus was sobbing freely now and Frisk quickly moved to stand right next to him, placing her hand in his the best she could.

"We don't have to stay here if you don't want to" Frisk replied. "We can just keep moving".

"N-NO. YOU'RE TIRED AND NEED TO REST. I-I ALSO WANT TO SEE MY HOUSE AGAIN, EVEN AFTER..." He was still sobbing hard. Moving forward Frisk opened the door with Papyrus close behind, and as soon as they were hidden from view she wrapped her arms around his form.

They stayed still for several minutes until Papyrus had calmed down and Frisk's arms ached from holding them up for so long. She looked at his face for assurance that he was alright before looking around.

It was a lovely looking house. There was a couch, a few tables and a television in the room they were standing in, a door appeared to lead to a kitchen, and there was a staircase leading towards two doors on the second story.

"T-THIS WAY" Papyrus said before moving up the stairs. Frisk followed him and they stopped before the first door.

"THIS USED TO BE MY ROOM. YOU'RE FREE TO SLEEP IN IT"

Opening the door Frisk glanced around. There was a computed in a corner with a closet next to it, a flag hung on the wall by one of its corners, and a table held what appeared to be a collection of action figures. She walked over and straightened those that had fallen over.

"THANKS" 

Frisk gave him a smile before looking at the bed. It was dusty, but it clearly resembled a racing car. Brushing off the dust the colour red revealed itself.

"Are you sure it's alright with you?" Frisk asked. "I'd hate to intrude"

"YES I'M SURE".

"Do you sleep?"

"NO I DON'T NEED TO SLEEP LIKE THIS. DON'T WORRY THOUGH, I CAN KEEP MYSELF BUSY WHILE YOU REST".

Frisk took off her coat and gloves and hung them over the end of the bed before lying down. It feels soft and comforting Frisk thought to herself, especially after sleeping on the ground in the Ruins.

Before long Frisk is deeply asleep while Papyrus sat down, a tear rolling down his skull.


	5. Author's Note

Hey guys.

As you may have noticed I have not updated this work in some time and I just wanted to say why.

I love Undertale, but for a while now I've lacked the motivation to keep writing these stories. My interests have moved onto other games and topics now and my writing inspiration has moved on with them. I might come back to these one day, but for now I'm not planning to. I apologize to anyone to who was reading these, and hope you can understand.

I will not stop writing though, it will simply be about different things.

Thanks for all your support guys.  
\- Kimber Prime


End file.
